Chapter five turns to the point at which the Rastafarians received land from the Tanzanian state. This was a major accomplishment with deep symbolic and material meaning. Now secure at home, they ...
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Chapter five turns to the point at which the Rastafarians received land from the Tanzanian state. This was a major accomplishment with deep symbolic and material meaning. Now secure at home, they were prepared to reap what they had sown. The process was, like life itself, filled with both trials and triumphs. They wrestled with epidemiological threats, economic woes, and family dynamics. In the midst of hardship, however, they contributed to Tanzania’s development in the areas of education, journalism, accounting, while supporting African liberation movements and forging alliances with pan-Africanists worldwide. Of utmost importance is also the interaction between these Rastafarians and the local Tanzanians who embraced Rastafari as a serious philosophy. This set in motion social processes far beyond the initial goals of those who repatriated, as the local movement broke off into sects with one even declaring its independence from the Jamaican Rastafarians, insisting that Rastafari had its roots in East Africa.Less

Monique A. Bedasse

Published in print: 2017-10-09

Chapter five turns to the point at which the Rastafarians received land from the Tanzanian state. This was a major accomplishment with deep symbolic and material meaning. Now secure at home, they were prepared to reap what they had sown. The process was, like life itself, filled with both trials and triumphs. They wrestled with epidemiological threats, economic woes, and family dynamics. In the midst of hardship, however, they contributed to Tanzania’s development in the areas of education, journalism, accounting, while supporting African liberation movements and forging alliances with pan-Africanists worldwide. Of utmost importance is also the interaction between these Rastafarians and the local Tanzanians who embraced Rastafari as a serious philosophy. This set in motion social processes far beyond the initial goals of those who repatriated, as the local movement broke off into sects with one even declaring its independence from the Jamaican Rastafarians, insisting that Rastafari had its roots in East Africa.

This chapter examines the clash between Rastafarian diasporic dreams and African nation-state realities. Even as the Rastafarian notion of diaspora transcended the state, Rastas were at the mercy of ...
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This chapter examines the clash between Rastafarian diasporic dreams and African nation-state realities. Even as the Rastafarian notion of diaspora transcended the state, Rastas were at the mercy of the Tanzanian state apparatus. The state granted them official “right of entry” in 1985,but it was not codified into law, and this made for a less than smooth process. The fissures that came to the fore turned on the legal, economic, cultural, and religious realities of repatriation. Notwithstanding these difficulties, Rastafarians and Tanzanian state officials continued to trod diaspora and to make claims about the relationship between race and citizenship.Less

Diasporic Dreams, African Nation-State Realities

Monique A. Bedasse

Published in print: 2017-10-09

This chapter examines the clash between Rastafarian diasporic dreams and African nation-state realities. Even as the Rastafarian notion of diaspora transcended the state, Rastas were at the mercy of the Tanzanian state apparatus. The state granted them official “right of entry” in 1985,but it was not codified into law, and this made for a less than smooth process. The fissures that came to the fore turned on the legal, economic, cultural, and religious realities of repatriation. Notwithstanding these difficulties, Rastafarians and Tanzanian state officials continued to trod diaspora and to make claims about the relationship between race and citizenship.